Various stereophotographs to be seen through lenticular films are known. These stereophotographs are taken as follows:
A plurality of photographs of an object are taken by means of a camera designed to take stereophotographs. A plurality of photographic films having different parallaxes are thus obtained. These photographic films are used as original images and subjected to exposure so that a compressed image may be formed on each of long and narrow photographic papers disposed under a lenticular film. The compressed images represent portions of the object compressed in the transverse direction of the long and narrow photographic papers.
The photographic papers are developed when they have been subjected to exposure. A stereophotograph is obtained when a lenticular film has been mounted on, and secured to, the developed photographic papers. This prior art method has a disadvantage that considerable time is required for the execution of the exposure step.
According to a further previously proposed method (see the Japanese Laid Open Patent Application No. 6-309431), compressed images are formed directly from original images by computer picture processing and printed on the paper by means of a printer.
According to this background art method, image data on the original images are edited and subjected to computer graphics in the transverse direction and in a reduction ratio equivalent to the reciprocal of the number of images. Reduced images thus obtained are divided into sections such that the dividing lines run parallel with the longitudinal direction and cause a plurality of line images to be formed in the longitudinal direction. These line images are arranged in order and printed.
For example, let it be supposed that three photographs having different parallaxes are read by an image scanner. Raw image data DPA, DPB and DPC as shown in FIG. 5 are obtained therefrom. When these raw image data have been edited, edited image data DEAj, DEBj and DECj are obtained. Reduced image data DRAj, DRBj and DRCj are obtained when the edited image data DEAj, DEBj and DECj have been reduced to one-third in the transverse direction. Reduced images thus obtained are divided into sections such that the dividing lines run parallel with the longitudinal direction and cause a plurality of line images to be formed in the longitudinal direction. These line images are arranged in order and printed. A reduced image FPJ is thus obtained.
This background art method has a disadvantage that, since a large quantity of raw image data DPA, DPB and DPC have to be processed, considerable time is required for the prosecution of the editing step and hence for forming compressed images. In addition, a large storage region is required for processing a large quantity of raw image data.
For example, when the quantity of each of the raw image data DPA, DPB and DPC amounts to 40 megabytes, 120 megabytes of a memory capacity are required and a large number of memories are also required for the RAM region to be used for editing the image data. Considerable time is required also for data transfer.
In view of the aforesaid problems, a principal object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus of the aforesaid character in which the time required for the formation of compressed images is greatly lessened and yet the quality of the compressed images comes up to a marketable level.